How much of my withholding do i get back

Tax calculator. Refund estimator. Smile generator.

Answering a few questions about your life, income and expenses with our tax calculator will answer the questions we all want answers to: Will I get a refund or owe the IRS? How much?

How it works:

Answer a few simple questions.

Most Americans are required to pay federal income taxes, but the amount you owe depends on a few factors. We’ll use your info to estimate your filing status and taxable income, then answer the question “How much will I get back in taxes?”

Tell us about your income.

Next, we’ll dive a little deeper to see how much you’ve already paid in taxes this year. For many, this is the amount withheld from their paychecks by an employer.

Find out your credits and deductions.

Using your income information, we’ll look for any tax credits that will either impact your refund or the amount you owe, as well as deductions to lower your taxable income.

See your tax refund estimate.

We’ll calculate the difference on what you owe and what you’ve paid. If you’ve already paid more than what you will owe in taxes, you’ll likely receive a refund. If you paid less, you may owe a balance.

Brush up on the basics.

Our free tax calculator is a great way to learn about your tax situation and plan ahead. We can also help you understand some of the key factors that affect your tax return estimate.

Federal withholdings

This is the total amount withheld from your paychecks and applied directly to your federal tax bill over the course of a year based on your W-4 allowances.

Tax brackets & tax breaks

Your tax bracket is determined by your taxable income and filing status. Our tax refund calculator will show you how.

Claiming CTC or RRC? Here’s what you need to know.

If you’re claiming the Child Tax Credit or Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 taxes, be sure to have your IRS letter for each when you file. This way, you can report the correct amounts received and avoid potential delays to your refund. We’re here to help.

Get tax help — however you need it.

File online

Do your own taxes any time, anywhere, on any device. Questions? Our on-demand tax experts can help.

File with a tax pro

Get expert tax prep virtually or in person. Gather your documents and your tax pro will do the rest.

Tax help you need and the biggest possible refund, guaranteed.

Max Refund Guarantee

Get every credit and deduction you deserve. Find a bigger refund somewhere else? Your tax prep is free.

Experienced tax pros

Our tax pros have an average of 10 years’ experience. We’re here for you when you need us.

Many ways to file

Get your taxes done by a tax pro in an office, via video, or by phone. Or do your own with expert, on-demand help.

Upfront transparent pricing

Know the price of tax prep before you begin as part of our No Surprise Guarantee.

More money now or refund later? Use our W-4 calculator.

Your W-4 impacts how much money you receive in every paycheck, your potential tax refund, and it can be changed anytime. Figure out which withholdings work best for you with our W-4 tax withholding estimator.

Your W-4 calculator checklist:

  • Five to 10 minutes to complete all the questions

  • Current paycheck stubs for all jobs

  • Last year’s tax return

  • Salary information for remainder of the year

  • Deductions info to be taken this year

  • Info on additional income you might receive

Understanding your W-4.

Don’t be caught off guard by your refund amount or money you owe the IRS at tax time.

No more allowances

Withholdings are not based on your personal or dependency exemptions.

More precise withholding

This could impact your refund or what you owe. We’ll help you understand them to avoid surprises.

Spousal & side job incomes

Factor in your household income from all sources.

Updates for life changes

Update your form if you have a new job, had children, got married, or had a significant income change.

Underpayment penalties

You could incur penalties if you do not withhold enough throughout the year.

Changes on your W-4

The new W-4 tax form took effect starting Jan. 1, 2020.

Take control of your tax situation.

Our W-4 calculator offers step-by-step instructions on how to put more money in your pocket now, or to get the refund you want at tax time.

FAQs

If your results show you will have an amount owed (meaning your withholding is set too low), you may owe a penalty and/or interest for not paying enough taxes. To avoid further potential penalties and interest, you could make adjustments to your withholding as outlined in the question above "I want a refund at tax time."

Your results will only account for federal income tax withholding. Other paycheck deductions are not taken into account. You should consider other deductions your paycheck, such as Social Security tax, Medicare tax, state tax, local tax, insurance premiums, retirement contributions, etc., to determine if you're comfortable with your take-home pay amount.

You’ll provide your completed Form W-4 to your employer.

If you have an older W-4 on file with your employer and you’re happy with your previous refund amount, you won’t need to complete a new one just because the form changed.

You should complete a new W-4 when you start a new job, get married, or have a child if you want more accurate withholding. It’s also a good idea to update your W-4 if someone in your household starts a new job.

The 2020 form was redesigned to more closely match your withholding with your tax liability, which reduces the likelihood of a refund.

If you have an older W-4 on file with your employer and you’re happy with your previous refund amount, you won’t need to complete a new one just because the form changed.

You should complete a new W-4 when you start a new job, get married, or have a child if you want more accurate withholding. It’s also a good idea to update your W-4 if someone in your household starts a new job.

The 2020 form was redesigned to more closely match your withholding with your tax liability, which reduces the likelihood of a refund.

The only two steps required for all employees are Step 1, where you enter personal information like your name and filing status, and Step 5, where you sign the form.

Completing Steps 2 – 4 (if applicable) means your withholding should more accurately reflect your tax liability.

You should increase your withholding if:

You are presented with an amount that you owe in taxes from the output of our W-4 calculator and your desired tax refund amount is $0.

You should decrease your withholding if:

You are presented with a tax refund amount from the output of our W-4 calculator and and your desired tax refund is $0. This may not be possible in some cases.

If you have self-employment income, you’ll generally owe self-employment tax along with income tax. With this type of income, you will not have withholding.

You can either:

Make adjustments to your W-4 with your employer to account for your self-employment income or pay quarterly estimated taxes to cover this income using Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals. Withholding for this type of income is made by claiming extra withholdings on line 4c.

You can make adjustments (ex. You could reduce or remove “other income” sources from the calculation), but you should know these types of changes will reduce the accuracy of your estimated refund or amount of tax due. This is especially significant if you’re entering information for multiple jobs.

Note: “Other income” is used in combination with wages from the highest paying job to calculate your level of withholding. Wage information from other jobs will not consider other income, deductions, etc.

We use the dependent information you enter to make assumptions about certain credits, such as the Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Credit from Other Dependents. If you’re not able to qualify for these credits, you should remove them from your calculations. Not removing them may mean that you withhold too little and will owe money at tax time.

Your results will only account for federal income tax withholding. Other paycheck deductions are not taken into account. You should consider other deductions from your paycheck, such as Social Security tax, Medicare tax, state tax, local tax, insurance premiums, retirement contributions, etc., to determine if you’re comfortable with your take-home pay amount.

If your results show you will have an amount owed (meaning your withholding is set too low), you may owe a penalty and/or interest for not paying enough taxes. To avoid further potential penalties and interest, you could make adjustments to your withholding as outlined in the question above, “I want a refund at tax time.”

IRS stress? Block has your back.

If you received an IRS letter, we can be with you every step of the way to help solve it.

Get tax help — however you need it.

File online

Do your own taxes any time, anywhere, on any device. Questions? Our on-demand tax experts can help.

File with a tax pro

Get expert tax prep virtually or in person. Gather your documents and your tax pro will do the rest.

Tax help you need and the biggest possible refund, guaranteed.

Max Refund Guarantee

Get every credit and deduction you deserve. Find a bigger refund somewhere else? Your tax prep is free.

Experienced tax pros

Our tax pros have an average of 10 years’ experience. We’re here for you when you need us.

Many ways to file

Get your taxes done by a tax pro in an office, via video, or by phone. Or do your own with expert, on-demand help.

Upfront transparent pricing

Know the price of tax prep before you begin as part of our No Surprise Guarantee.

Do you get all of your withholding tax back?

With every paycheck, your employer withholds some of your earnings for taxes. If too much is withheld, it's true that you will receive a refund, but when you really think about it, by waiting until tax season to claim that money back, you've essentially provided the IRS with an interest-free loan during the year.

How do you know how much you're getting back from your W 2?

Box 2 on our W2 is the amount of tax withheld from your wages. However, this does not tell you how much you will get back. On your form 1040, you will see your refund on line 34. If you owe, the amount will be on line 37.

Do I get money back from w4?

Your W-4 form has a lot of power over your taxes — if your employer withholds more income tax than you owe, you will receive a bigger tax refund when you file. If your employer doesn't withhold enough, you might find yourself stuck with a tax bill at the end of the tax year.

Why am I not getting all of my federal income tax withheld back?

All or part of your refund may have been used (offset) to pay off past-due federal tax, state income tax, state unemployment compensation debts, child support, spousal support, or other federal nontax debts, such as student loans.